In the use of cathode ray tube terminals, it is often desirable to record permanently images appearing on the cathode ray tube display. Whereas apparatus has been known, heretofore, for recording or printing of such images appearing on cathode ray tubes, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,920,896, 3,958,088 and 3,725,900, these have been of complex construction requiring costly electronic components. Conventional apparatus for recording cathode ray tube displays, furthermore, do not make use of the precision which is inherent in and available from the video signal. The complexity of the conventional arrangements for printing or recording cathode ray tube displays, moreover, has also made it difficult to maintain the apparatus operating satisfactorily in service.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement which is simple in construction for printing a hard copy of a cathode ray tube display.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of the foregoing character which uses the character-generating capability that is already present in cathode ray tube terminals.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a hard copy printing arrangement as described, which will reproduce alpha-numeric characters, as well as graphs, charts, tables and any other graphic configurations.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hard copy printing arrangement of cathode ray tube displays which is capable of recording various shades of gray.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a printing arrangement for the reproduction of facsimile transmission and photographs.